• The financial cost of taking a large cohort to visit a university
• The sheer distance of the school from a local university
• Poor internet / broadband facilities ( linked to online delivery )
• The challenge of getting providers to make the journey to the school
Other issues
Participants brought up several other issues such as :
• Apprenticeship providers have stopped advertising positions so it can be very difficult to show students the variety of apprenticeships on offer in Dorset . They suggested that companies could provide examples of old advertisements ( School D )
• The staff resources needed for trips . School D provided the example of ‘ Girls in Tech ’ where a member of staff was required for every three students that attended .
• School D felt there was less flexibility with targeted events and if students could not attend , ’ their place ’ could be offered to others .
Participants were asked the following specific questions :
According to Gatsby Benchmark 7 : " By the age of 16 , every pupil should have had a meaningful encounter with a provider of the full range of learning opportunities ". To what extent do you feel the school is meeting this ?
According to Gatsby Benchmark 7 : " By the age of 18 , all students who are considering applying for university should have had at least two visits to universities to meet staff and students ". Can you explain how the school has sought to achieve this .
Whilst schools stated that they met these requirements with varying degrees of success , the impact of Covid had meant it had been challenging for schools to fully meet these requirements over the past year . Both Schools B and C specifically talked about the issue of meeting this in relation to HE providers . Schools A and D also raised the issue of the cost of travel to events as a significant challenge .
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